India`s unemployment rate rises to 5.6% in May
The Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation's Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) - Monthly Bulletin has showed that India’s unemployment rate for the month of May rose to 5.6% against 5.1% in April this year. During the same period, the unemployment rate (UR) among females has increased to 5.8% compared to the male UR of 5.6% at the country level. Besides, an employment shift from the primary sector (agriculture), which contributed 45.9% employment in April came down to 43.5% in May, to secondary and services sectors has been seen in the rural areas. The reduction in agricultural activities with the end of Rabi harvest season for both male and female in the rural areas may have brought about the downward shift in number of workers.
Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in Current Weekly Status (CWS) among persons of age 15 years and above was 54.8% during May 2025 as compared to 55.6% during April, 2025. The LFPR in rural areas was 56.9%, meanwhile, it was 50.4% in urban areas during the same period. During the month of May, the LFPR in CWS among males in rural and urban areas were 78.3% and 75.1% respectively, which marked a marginal decline from the corresponding LFPR estimates of 79.0% and 75.3% respectively for rural and urban areas during April, 2025. The LFPR among female for rural areas was 36.9% during May, 2025.
The country level Worker Population Ratio (WPR) stood at 51.7% during May as compared to 52.8% observed during April, 2025. During May 2025, the WPR in CWS in rural areas was 54.1%, meanwhile, it was 46.9% in urban areas. The decline in LFPR and WPR and the rise in UR were driven largely by seasonal agricultural patterns, higher summer temperature experienced in May in some parts of the country due to which physical outdoor work gets limited and movement of some unpaid helpers to domestic chores, especially in the higher income (top 3 decile) rural households.
